STILLMAN VALLEY — Kendall Lawson didn’t take a back seat to James Robinson on this night.

At least not at crunch time.

With Robinson, Rockford Lutheran’s star sophomore running back, watching from the sidelines nursing cramps during most of the fourth quarter, Lawson slammed the door on a 33-28 win over conference rival Stillman Valley.

“I was over there, watching, and I was bummed that I was out. But, I had confidence in Kendall and the offense. I knew they would pull it out,” said Robinson, who rushed for 192 yards and two touchdowns, and caught a 17-yard TD pass, all in less than three quarters of work. “This win is so important to us. It means we’ve got a shot at tying for the conference title, and it means we’re getting better as a team.”

Robinson returned to burst free for a 12-yard gain for the game’s final third-down conversion with 41 seconds left after he had exited late in the third quarter and missed most of the fourth quarter with hamstring and calf cramps. That sealed the deal, and since Lutheran (7-1, 5-1 BNC) pulled off the key Big Northern Conference West victory, if Stillman Valley (7-1, 4-1) knocks off Winnebago (8-0, 5-0) in the regular-season finale, there will be a three-way tie for conference champ.

“Boy, I told our kids how far we’ve come — it’s just amazing,” Lutheran head coach Bruce Bazsali said. “Nobody respected us. We knew we had a lot to prove, and we knew this was the way to do it, right here.”

Regardless of next week’s outcome, there will be three dangerous teams from that side of the league headed to the playoffs. And Lutheran expects to build on the momentum gained from Friday night’s road win for as long as it can. Lawson was 16-for-25 for 283 yards passing with a touchdown and two interceptions, and his 31-yard strike to wideout Tim Koehler set up Robinson’s one-yard TD dive early in the third quarter to bump the lead to 13.

“We have to be able to keep things rolling if James isn’t going off. A win like this is huge for us; for our confidence, this is huge,” said Lawson, who also rushed for 36 yards and two TDs. “Stillman Valley just doesn’t lose at home, and to be able to do this, with James banged up, we showed a lot out there tonight.”

Down the stretch, the Crusaders covered up any mistake — they had two second-half turnovers — with a big play of their own — they reeled in a pair of fourth-quarter takeaways. While the Cardinals got 136 yards rushing from Zac Hare and 110 on the ground from Tristan Elliot, Lutheran racked up 523 yards of total offense in the win.